Printing element or cylinder



March 27, 1951 w. c. HUEBNER PRINTING ELEMENT 0R CYLINDER Filed March14, 1946 V ,1 3 w f4 m f5 fo 7 m 1 VENTOR. fl Z zzzz d M/ze B a wtorrregs Patented Mar. 27, 1951 PRINTING ELEMENT R CYLINDER William C.Huebner, New York, N. Y.

Application March 14, 1946, Serial No. 654,454

2 Claims.

This invention relates to printing elements or cylinders suitable foruse in various different methods of printing, but which are particularlyadapted for use in printing apparatus where the printing is effectedwithout the heavy pressures employed in orthodox printing presses, suchfor example as apparatus in which the ink is transferred from theprinting element to the prlnt receiving paper or material through theinstrumentality of electronic, electrostatic or mag netic lines offorce. More specifically, the invention relates to improvements inprinting elements of the nature disclosed in certain of my copendingapplications for U. S. Letters Patent.

My U. S. application, Ser, No. 623,703, now abandoned, for example,discloses printing elements having tubular or hollow cylindrical bodies.which are made of materials that are porous or permeable by liquids andare provided with exterior printing surfaces comprising areas that maskportions of the permeable body of the element and are impervious toliquids'and other areas to which the liquids are delivered or applied bypermeation or expulsion through the pores or interstices of the body ofthe element. Said application shows printing elements of two formshaving a tubular body of porous material provided with an exteriorprinting surface. In one form this printing surface is composed ofimage-printing areas that mask portions of the porous body and areimpervious by fluids or liquids, and nonprinting areas formed bypervious parts of the printing surface or exposed surface portions ofthe porous body which in the use of the element are moistened by adampening fluid permeating or passing through the body pores of theelement. In the printing element of the second form, the exteriorprinting surface is composed of non-printing areas that mask surfaceportions of the porous body and are impervious to liquids, andimage-printing areasformed as'by exposed surface portions of the porousbody which, in the use of the element, are inked or covered with fluidink, dye or liquid printing material expelled or passing through thebody pores of the element. The first form of element provides a printingsurface in the nature of a planographic surface in which the nonprintingareas can be dampened, without the use of the orthodox dampening roller,by a dampening fluid passing through the body pores of the element forrepelling the printing ink, which may be applied, as by the orthodoxinking rollers, to-;,;the image printing areas of the printing surface;Said second form of element provides aprinting surface in the nature ofan intaglio or gravure surface in which the pervious imageprinting areasare inked, without the use of the orthodox inking rollers, by fluid ink,dye or liquid printing material that passes or is expelled from theinterior of the element through the body pores thereof to saidimage-printing areas.

Printing elements of such character-avoid the cost and inconvenience ofthe inking rollers used in the present-day orthodox relief presses andoffset presses and also avoid the use of doctor blades or other surfacewiping instrumentalities used in orthodox gravure presses.

Asdisclosed in said applications, the permeable tubular body of theprinting element is formed by a hollow cylinder or tube of porousceramic or other suitable plastic material which, after being ground totrue cylindrical exterior and interior shape, is provided exteriorlywith a printing surface such as described, comprising pervious areasformed as by exposed or bare surface portions of the porous element bodyand other areas which mask surface portions of the porous body and areimpervious to dampening fluids orfiuid ink, dye or liquid printingmaterial.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved printing cylinderor element that can be readily and economically produced of requiredaccuracy for high grade printing and has a pervious body of-novelconstruction that will insure free and uniform passage or expulsion ofliquids through the pores or interstices thereof to the printingsurface, either for dampening the non-printing areas when the printingsurface is 1 of the relief or planographic type, or for inking theimage-printing areas when the printing surface is of the intaglio orgravure type.

Qther objects of the invention are to provide a printing cylinder orelement of the character mentioned having a pervious or liquid expulsionbody of novel construction or formation which is of greater strength anddurability and less fragile and liable to breakage or injury during themanufacture or use thereof than the bodies of previous printingcylinders or elements of analogous type; also to provide a printingcylinder or element of the character mentioned having a pervious orliquid expulsion body of novel construction which provides means foreffectively charging the printing liquid in its passage to the printingsurface with an electric charge of required polarity for cooperationwith other electrical means in apparatus in which the printing iseffected by electronic or other electric action.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing specification of the preferred embodiments of the inventionshown in the accompanying drawings, and. the novel features of theinvention are set forth in the appended claims.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, sectional elevation of a printing cylinder orelement of one form embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an .elevationof one end .of theprinting cylinder, the lefthand end, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the tubular shell of theelement with portions of; the external printing surface broken away toshow how the underlying porous or permeable body may be formed bywindings of;,mesh or reticulated material.

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary, longitudinal,

sectional elevations showing printing elements of slightlymodifiedformsembodying the invene;

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional viewon a larger. scale'showing one way offastening the endsofthe mesh'fabric ribbons at the ends of .the;sup

porting tube.

The printing element as illustrated in the drawings is in the form of ahollow cylinder comprise ing a peripheral tubular shell supported at.its... ends by and connecting opposite circular heads or'ends 2 and 3,which are suitably secured on an axial shaft or tube l. the cylindercomprises; an inner-perforated supporting tube 4 made of metal or othersufficiently terior: .1 1" this ,tube to the surroundingpsrvious d for.s ase et oushher terial forming the body 5 maybe, asshownat I in Fig. 1,fine wire, openmesh screen fabricof about 200 meshes to the inch, orother-analogousmaterialisuch as glass fiberyclothras shown at- 1 in;Fig. 4; and the pervious'body 51of;-the; cylin:-- li shellmayhe or d qlll by. n r ui ed; numb r of l e s. f. e he the-Wi sho lass;- fibermaterial, or b one or-more layers-1 of, the 55 wire mesh materialalternating with one or more layers of the glass fiber cloth, asindicated at] I and 1a Fig. 5. This open mesh; fabric--or cloth ofwhatever kind is wrapped or wound; on. the

tube t in such a way as to. provide auniform; annular, cylindrical body-5 -;without-.creases,,; ridges or seams. which would give;it--,an;uneven,*

outer cylindrical surface.

Fig. 3 represents a desirable way,of winding the meshfabric orcloth onthe tube 4to form the pervious body 5 of the cy-linderishell, in whichThe tubular shellof the tube 4 and cemented thereto, as indicated at 8,Fig. 6. Any desired number of superposed layers of fabric or cloth canbe thus formed by helically winding the fabric ribbons about the tube inone layer upon another, but preferably the ribbons in alternate layersare wound helically in opposite directions so that the covolutions ofthe ribbon forming one layer will cross those of the next adjacentlayer, as indicated in Fig. 3, in which "9 represents the ribbon formingone layer and [6' the oppositely wound ribbon forming the next layer.The opposite ends of each ribbon are suitably fastened or anchored in.-place, forinstance, by cementing to the tube 4, as above indicated, soas to hold the ribbons intact about the tube, without shifting. Thismanformlyover the outer surface of the porous body.

a relatively narrow-ribbonor band of the' fa brici is wound helicallyandtightly aboutthe. tube a with the side edges of adjacent, convolutionsof the ribbon abutting flush withoneanother soas;

to form a continuous or unbroken layer. of thefabric, or cloth,withthestarting and finishing;

endsof theribbon suitably fastened atthe ends of the cylinder shell,Forinstance, the ends. of]

r n ay be t n d, o rth eud edeesof ner ofconstructingthe pervious bodyof the open mesh material insures that the outer peripheral surface'o'fthe porous body will be a continuous or unbroken, true cylindricalsurface, free from creases orridges where the edges of thewound fabricmeet.

After building up the pervious body 5 to the. required thickness ordiameter, it is enveloped by. a continuous orunbrokenouterperipheral-coat ing or layer H of material of a charactersuitablefor forming theexterior peripheral print ingsurface of thecylinder, depending uponthe method of printing for which the ,cylinderprelement is to be used. For instancath is layer or, coating l I may bea metallic layer of ,tin, copper. or other suitable metal of athickness, ,say in. the, neighborhood of 1 thousandths of an inch, andmaybe formed by. any suitable method,;such as byspraying the metal in amolten condition uni 5 orby applying a suitable flux exteriorly on the.Wire mesh body 5 and rotating the tube withpits. mesh body dipping intoa molten bath of coating metal; or by electrolytically depositing themetal;

coating on thepervious. body of'the shell,-as dis-,. closed in saidapp1ication,Ser..No; 623,703,,This. metal layer or coating when formedis ground; or finish ed to provide it with apolished or smooth.-

. ,outer surface of true cylindrical form.

The finished metalcoating .or'layenll issultably treatedto convert itinto'a printing surface composed-of areas .12 which are impervious byliquids, and mask or covlerunderlying surface .pcr v tions. of theperviousbody .5 of the shell, andother areas 1 3 which are pervious orleave bare the reg; istering surface portions of the perviousv body ,5 tfor expulsion or permeation of liquid throughthe pores or interstices.ofsaid body to the exterior.

ofrthe printing surface. at these bare. 0r pervious areas. Thus. liquidcanpass orbe expelled from the. interior of the cylinder shell throughits pores or interstices to these printingsurfaceareasl3 1, either forthe purpose of dampening them, when. they constitute non-printing areasof :the .printingsurface; as inuthe case of axprinting surface oftheplanographic or relief type; or for the'purg pose of the passage orexpulsionfof fiuid ink dye or liquid printing materialthroughthe pores.or interstices ofthe shell-to these bare or pervious surface areas whenthey constitute theirnage printing areas of a printing surfaceiof theintaglio orgravuretype. It-is to be understood that themasking areas i2of the printing surface are impervious by liquidsso that the-liquids-canpass through the pores or intersticesof thQShGllibQdY to the exterior ofthe printing surface only lat: thebare or perviousareas l3 thereof Thisprinting surface having; the impervious areas. l2 and the bare orvpervious areas l3 can 1 be produced by different suitable methods,depending on the required character of the printing surface. Forexample, the printing surfacecan be prepared by a method such asdisclosed in said application, in which the metal layer I I is coatedwith a light-sensitive solution and the printing image or images is orare produced thereon photographically by exposing the lightsensitivecoating to right through a negative or positive film, and thendeveloping the sensitized coating so as to leave on the metal layer I Ionly those portions of the light-sensitivecoating which were hardened bylight action, the other portions of the sensitized coating, which wereprotected from light action, being dissolved or washed off, leaving bareor exposed the corresponding portions of the metal coating or layer Ii.Then, after baking or suitable treatment of said light" hardenedportions to convert them into an acidresistant enamel or its equivalent,the bare portions of the metal layer II are removed as for example, bythe use of a suitable etching acid or by reversed electrolytic action asdisclosed in said application, to expose or leave bare thecorrespondingsurface portions of the underlying pervious body of the cylinder shellfor the passage therethrough of liquid from the interior of the cylindershell to these bare or pervious areas I3 of the printing surface.

While a printing element having the printing surface formed by the outermetal layer or coating II, as above described, is preferred for use inmany printing methods, nevertheless, instead of providing such a metalprinting surface on the pervious body 5 of the shell, the printingsurface can be produced directly on the pervious body without oromitting the metal layer, as by forming a coating or layer oflight-sensitive material directly on the pervious body of the printingelement and developing this coating or layer by a well knownphotographic process to provide the light-hardened, impervious ormasking areas I2 of the printing surface and the pervious areas I 3thereof formed as by removing the non-lighthardened portions of thelight-sensitive coating by development to expose or bare correspondingsurface portions of the pervious body 5 of the element as abovedescribed.

The liquid, whether a fluid for dampening the pervious areas I3 of theprinting surface or a fluid ink, dye or other liquid printing materialfor inking these areas, may be applied or delivered to the interiorsurface of the perforated tube 4 of the cylinder shell in various ways.For this purpose, as illustrated in the drawings, the printing elementis provided within the tube 4 with an annular wall or tube I5 whichextends from one to the other of the heads 2 and 3 of the cylinder andis separated from the tube 4 by a shallow liquid space I6 to which theliquid is supplied or delivered for passage through the perforations ofthe tube 4 to the pervious body of the shell. The ends of the wall I5may be, as shown, supported in annular grooves I1 in the cylinder heads2 and 3 with its ends seated in suitable sealing gaskets or rings I8interposed in the grooves 9'! between the heads and the ends of the wallI5 to prevent the escape of the liquid from the liquid space I6 past theWall l5 into the interior chamber IQ of the printing element. The liquidmay be delivered to the liquid space I 6 of the element under suitablepressure from a supply pipe 23, which as shown, connects with astationary ring 2| that surrounds the hub 22 of one head 2 of therotatable cylinder, and is held in place against charge wires orconductors 3'! and 38.

a face plate 23 of said cylinder head 2 by a'retaining ring 24 which issecured, as by screws.

25, to the hub 22 at the outer side of the ring 2|. The ring 2| shown isprovided with a transverse port 26 which connects the supply pipe 26with an annular channel 21 in the outer side of the face the printingelement. Thus, liquid is supplied to this liquid space 16 for passage orexpulsion therefrom'through the pervious body 5 of the element to thepervious areas I3 of the printing surface. Any other suitable means ormethod of supplying or applying the liquid to the interior surface ofthe pervious tubular shell of the ele-.

ment for passage or expulsion through its pores or interstices could beemployed. Other means for this purpose are disclosed in the abovementioned applications. The other cylinder head 3 may have a chamber 29asimilar to the chamber 29 of the head 2, and connecting by ports 30awith.

the liquid space It to ensure uniform distribution of the liquidthroughout the whole annular liquid space I6.

When the body of the printing element is formed with one or more layersof metal wire me h material, as before described, one or more of thesewire mesh layers may be supplied with electric current for charging theprinting liquid with a given electric polarity during its passagethrough the meshes of the material to the peripheral printing surface ofthe element. As illustrated, for instance in Figs. 1 and 2 for thispurpose, one or more layers of the wire mesh material are joined attheir ends in electrical conducting relation with annular conductorrings 35 provided peripherally on the cylinder heads 2 and 3 and onwhich rings ride contact devices, such as rollers 36, for conductingelectric current through the wire mesh material from and to supply anddis- By such means, an electric current can be passed through the Wiremesh layer or layers so as to effectively and uniformly impart anelectric charge of required polarity to the printing liquid on its wayto the peripheral printing surface of the element. The conductor rings35 may be suitably insulated from the heads 2 and 3, as shown at 39, andthe tubular peripheral shell of the element may be supported in annulargrooves in the cylinder heads and suitably insulated therefrom, asindicated at 4!] in Figs. 1 and 6.

Printing elements constructed as shown and described are of strong anddurable construction, not liable to fracture or distortion during themanufacture, handling or use thereof, nevertheless, they can be producedeconomically. The pervious body of the element formed by the fine meshfabric or cloth ensures free and uniform distribution of the liquid tothe enveloping printing surface for passage or expulsion of the liquidthrough its open or pervious areas. The imageprinting areas of theprinting surface may be of half-tone lines or grain texture or of othercharacter, depending upon the method of printing in which the element isto be employed or the character of printed material to be produced.

I claim as my invention:

1. A printing cylinder having a tubular cylindrical shell comprising arigid perforated supporting tube of full cylindrical form. cylinder 7heads attached to opposite ends of said'shell, an approximately rigidpervious body completely surrounding said shell and formed-of thin flatopen me'sh metal fabric ribbon wound helically on said supporting tubewith the convolutions of the-ribbon disposedwviththeir side edgesin-edge to edge relation'to form a-plain cylindrical surface free fromridges, said body-being permeable by'liquid passing through theperforations of-said tube, and an outer coating completely surroundingsaid pervious body and forming a full cylindrical printing surfacecomprising areas which are impervioustosaid liquidand other 'perviousareas through which the liquid can pass to the exterior of'fsaidprinting surface, an auxiliary tube 'of smaller diameter arranged withinsaid shell and forminga space between the said tube and the she'llysaidauxiliary tube being supported in said heads, in spaced relationship tosaid shell to permit inks or other liquid to be forced into said spacefor discharge through said per'vio'us areas of said outer coating,and'connections for conducting an electronic current to said metal mesh,Which current can be projected from said mesh and through the'ink 'tocreate an electric discharge of ink through said pervious areas of saidouter coating.

"21A printing cylinder having a tubular cylindrical shell comprising arigid perforated supporting tube of full cylindrical 'form, cylinderheads attached to opposite ends of said shell, an approximately rigidpervious body completely surrounding said shell and formed of thinfiatopen mesh metal fabric ribbon wound helically on'said supporting tubewith the convolutions of the ribbon disposed with their side edges inedge to edge relation to'form a plain cylindrical surface freefromridges, said body being permeable for discharge through-said pervious'areas-of said outer coating, a collector -ringmounted'on said cylinderadjacent" to an edge thereof and in electrical contact with said metalfabric ribbon, and a current conducting contact engaging said collecto'rring forsupplying electronic current to said ribbon through saidcollector ring, for "pro- ,iecting saidc'urrent from said mesh throughsaid ink to create-an electric discharge of ink through said perviousareas ofsaid outer coating.

WILLIAM C. HUEBNER.

REFERENCES 1 CITED The following references are ofrecord'in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 833,853 Steel Oct. 23, 19061,625,054 Rosato Apra19, 1927 1,7893% McCollum Jan. 13,1931 1,856,181Burkholdt May 3, 1932 2,049,495 Freuder Aug-4, 1936 2,267,901 Duncan'Dec." 30, 1941 2,276,113 Strauss Mar. 1 0, 1942

